The ability to control infestations of arthropod pests in dwellings occupied by humans is important for several reasons, including providing a healthy environment, protecting humans and pets from harmful effects, i.e., bites or disease, and protecting property from damage and deterioration. In particular, highly infested properties may become uninhabitable and thus suffer a severe decrease in value as a result.
For example bed bugs, or Cimex lectularius have long been a pest of interior dwellings occupied by mammals, and numerous methods for their control have been disclosed. This insect feeds on mammalian, e.g., human, blood and often inflicts painful bites in so doing. A recent increase in infestations of this insect has been reported, and with it, an increase desire to find more effective ways to control this noxious pest.
In Mar. 7, 2011, an article (W. G. Schulz, Chemical and Engineering News, 89, (10), p. 13-18, entitled “Battling the Bedbug Epidemic”, points out that current methods for control infestations are failing. This is in part due to the ban on older insecticides such as DDT, the development of pesticide resistance among bed bugs to currently registered insecticides, and hesitancy to use newer replacement insecticides because of concerns about their human toxicity, particularly to children.
Furthermore, use and misuse of pesticides in the home have resulted in explosions and fire from aerosols, the further scattering of bed bugs to nearby residences from the use of bug bombs, and medical treatment to children exposed to Malathion from its improper use. In addition, the use of ineffective and potentially dangerous home remedies has been reported, despite a lack of any data supporting their efficacy.
The current recommendations involve integrated pest management (IPM), i.e., the use of chemicals together with preventative measures such as monitoring, cleaning and removal of clutter. Detailed descriptions of IPM methods for bed bugs are discussed by various government and university extension agents, as well as exterminating and steam cleaning companies. Examples of these are listed below.    (1) Barb Ogg, University of Nebraska Extension “Managing Bed Bugs”, publication in Managing Bed Bugs Resource 263 was updated on Apr. 5, 2010,    (2) NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, Bed Bug Fact Sheet, Department of Health, P.O. Box 360, Trenton, N.J. 08625-0360; Copyright State of New Jersey, 1996-2013.    (3) Steven B. Jacobs, Entomological Notes, Bed Bugs, College of Agricultural Sciences and U.S. Department of Agriculture., and Pennsylvania Counties Cooperating, April 2003, rev. July 2007.    (4) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Joint statement on bed bug control in the United States from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2010.    (5) Office of Environmental Health and Safety Management, Indiana University, 1514 East Third Street, Bloomington, Ind. 47401, “Housekeeping Procedures for Bed Bugs”, Pest Management; Bed Bugs, Copyright 2013 The Trustees of Indiana University.
Carpet cleaning companies disclose similar methods, focusing on steam cleaning of mattresses, drapes, upholstery and carpeting.
See for example,    (6) “Bedbugs make a comeback; high-temperature steam the most effective weapon”, Press release, Personal Touch Carpet Cleaning, 3852 Norwood Drive #4 Littleton, Colo. 80125, Copyright 2013.    (7) Bowles, Donella, “How to Kill Bed Bugs with Steam”, eHow article, Copyright 1999-2013 Demand Media, Inc.    (8) “Bed Bugs Guide: Steam Cleaning,” Copyright 2007, Bedbugsguide.com    (9) “How to Kill Bed Bugs in Carpet,” whatdobedbugslooklike.net, Copyright 2013
In addition, whole house systems are disclosed which use heat as means of killing the pests. See “ThermaPure® Inc. Receives New U.S. Patent for the Use of Heat Technology to Kill Bed Bugs”, see Hedman, U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,148, issued Apr. 6, 2010 and Hedman, US2011/0219665.
Various other patents and patent applications disclose methods for controlling bed bugs. These can be classified as either chemical, which include insecticides, formulations of insecticides, and repellants; or physical devices, which includes heat delivery systems, vacuum and steam cleaners and traps.
In the Chemical and Engineering News (Schulz, 2011 cited above) disclosure, the common insecticides in use against bed bugs are pyrethrins (pyrethrums). In addition, other compounds such as chorfenapyr and propoxur are insecticidally active against bedbugs. However, neither has been approved by the EPA for use in the home.
Other disclosures describe various other compounds and formulations of compounds. For example, US 2011/0213038 describes formulations containing at least one compound selected from carvone, linalool, styryl alcohol, dihydrocarbone, tetracyrocarvone and mixtures thereof. WO2010/115065 discloses microemulsion pesticide formulations using these and other compounds together with a fatty acid for enhanced pest control. US 2011/0256196 discloses boron-containing compounds used to control insects, formulated with surfactants. The surfactants disclosed are cationic, e.g., quaternary ammonium salts.
WO 2005/070210 discloses mixtures made up of a pyrethroid and another insecticide selected from imidacloprid, niathiazine, thamethoxam, dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiacloprid, clothiandine and chlorfenapyr, and the use of such mixtures for controlling household insect pests, including bed bugs.
Impregnation of insecticides/repellents into carpet fibers is disclosed in US 2007/0196412 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,221 discloses carpet which has been pretreated with insecticidal compounds.
Monitoring and controlling bed bug infestation is also disclosed in US 2011/0289824, using a detection device that comprises an insect attractant, an arresting, and/or aggregating compound, which may also be combined with an insecticide or pheromone. US 2009/0145019 discloses a device which employs thermal, chemical and gaseous (CO2) attractants in combination to attract, trap and optional kill bedbugs from any dwelling.
The use of simple devices that generate heat/steam to destroy or exterminate insects has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 125,557 and U.S. Pat. No. 601,168.
A vacuum designed to collect and kill insects, specifically fleas, has been disclosed in US 2010/0205767.
Despite the numerous published methods, devices and compounds, there has been an increase pest infestation, and more effective, more economical, and safer methods to control arthropods, particularly bed bugs, in interior dwellings are needed.